


Shared History and Space

by Starffledust



Series: Bunnymund Deals With His Issues [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Because it's always at the Pole, Bunny coming to terms with his trauma and learning that other people care about him, Family Bonding, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sandy slaps sense into him, Team as Family, The Pole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28675428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starffledust/pseuds/Starffledust
Summary: “So, you’re not saying I should disregard the past,” he said slowly, and Sandy nodded, “but you’re also saying that I shouldn't completely regard it.”Sandy made a so-so motion with his hand. He pointed to himself and formed a figure of himself sleeping with a rain cloud above his head. When the miniature Sandman stood up, the cloud disappeared. Then it lied down again, but only a calm swirl of a dream returned above its head.Bunnymund swallowed. “But how do I let go?” he asked quietly.Sandy shrugged.
Relationships: E. Aster Bunnymund & Sanderson Mansnoozie
Series: Bunnymund Deals With His Issues [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089344
Kudos: 5





	Shared History and Space

**Author's Note:**

> The video that inspired this: https://youtu.be/cD6tLqtOy8w
> 
> As jukebox_draws told me: something was different about Bunny’s reaction to Sandy’s death than all the other guardians. I don’t know why Bunny sticks out to me but he just does
> 
> In that deleted scene he’s the only one acting irrationally, kicking barrels, blaming Jack etc  
> Do you think that may be alluding to their previous duties during the intergalactic war?
> 
> I responded: Probably  
> I think Bunny and Sandy probably get each other much better than North or Tooth would, since they both probably knew about each other's species and they both canonically knew General Pitchiner (maybe not personally, but they looked up to him)
> 
> jukebox_draws: Great now I need a fanfiction about Bunny and Sandy bonding over their genocide trauma
> 
> Note:  
> If you’re wondering, Bunny stuck out cause he’s their favorite. Sandy’s mine. You’ll probably be able to see me just projecting both of us onto these characters in the fic.

“I just don’t get it.”

Sandy looked back from the window, to the six-foot tall Pooka leaning heavily on the wall. A question mark appeared slowly above his head, the sand hesitant.

Bunnymund glanced away and glared absently at an unfortunate pillar. His ears twitched in thought. “I don’t know if I can explain it,” he said slowly. “I guess it’s just…” Bunny looked to the floor as his sentence veered into silence. “I’m fed up with the isolation, maybe?”

A small _whoosh_ introduced a swirl of golden animals in his face—rabbits, to be precise—startling his train of thought. The little group of sand rabbits mingled for a moment before one broke off to the side, letting the others dissolved into the air. A dark rain cloud appeared as the animal bowed its head in grief. 

Sometime during the display, Sandy had moved to hover below the image, and a question mark replaced the lone rabbit over his head.

Bunnymund blinked. “Well, it’s not lonely, per se,” he said. “Especially after Frostbite had us all singin’ and holdin’ hands.” A faded smirk pulled at his mouth before disappearing into concentration again. His eyes moved back to study his feet. “All I'm getting at is that we’re not alone, but sometimes it feels like it. Not lonely—I don't feel lonely—it’s more precise than that, ya know? Except it doesn't seem like you do sometimes, I just finally have to ask.” He lifted his head to look Sandy in the eye. “Don’t you miss having people like you? And I don't mean just friends to confide in. I mean people who actually _understand_ you at a base level—in a way humans are incapable of doing.”

Sandy shook his head without a moment’s thought, and Bunny’s ears drooped.

“Not at all?”

This time, Sandy tilted his head in concentration, looking away as unformed sand swirled over him. The shake of his head was slower the second time, but the answer still appeared negative.

Before Bunnymund could say anything else, a small planet formed out of sand. It began to twirl, and a sun formed for it to orbit. A large X appeared in front of the figures.

“Sorry, mate.” Bunny rubbed at his arms. “Couldn't catch that one.”

Sandy huffed, and the sun dissolved. He separated the planet from the X, still keeping the images intact, and pointed at himself. Then he pointed to the planet, and the X moved back to its place.

“Wait wait wait.” Bunny held both paws in front of him, wide eyes unmoving from the image. “You didn’t have a planet?!” his voice rose in both volume and octave.

The planet and X dissolved into a check mark.

“You—you’re serious? This isn’t just some porky, you're actually tellin’ the truth? _How?”_ Bunny waved his paws around in abstract patterns, as if to dispel his confusion.

Sandy crossed his arms with an annoyed expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry that I didn't know about your people’s _lack of a planet._ A bit more important to learn about the stuff Star Pilots did have during a galactic war, yeah?”

Sandy lifted himself from the ground to level Bunny a glare.

“I take from your offense that you know more about my people than I do about yours?”

A planet appeared again—this one shaped like an egg. Beside it stood a Pooka in a sorcerer’s robe, adorning goggles which covered their eyes.

“Yeah,” Bunny’s tone quieted in remembrance, and his face softened, “that's it alright.”

They both stared at the figures for a moment.

Bunny growled lowly and waved a paw through the egg and Pooka. 

Sandy jumped in midair at the disruption of his creation but otherwise only pulled the sand back toward himself.

“Okay, you didn't have a planet. What’s that to do with my question?”

The group of rabbits appeared again, all huddled together. Without warning, their forms scattered like fireworks and shifted into comets which swirled in all directions, never touching or acknowledging each other’s presence.

“Yeah, guess a planet would be more homey.”

One of the comets pushed him in the side.

“Oi!” He swatted at the stream as it pulled away to rejoin the others. “You had that comment coming. Should've thought more carefully through your words, you gumby.”

Sandy shrugged with a smug smile. His expression leveled when Bunnymund sighed.

“I still don't get it, though.”

Another question mark.

“Well, you know I’m no good with feelings.”

Sandy nodded, a goose appearing in the sand above his head.

“That was a completely different matter!” Bunny stiffened. “I liked Katherine. It was North and the staff which made me hesitate. I had my own Warren to take care of, and I had never fought Pitch before then!” 

Bunnymund ran a paw over his head and sat on the ground, leaning back against the pillar with a deep inhale. “I didn't _hate_ humans; they just didn't interest me enough to care. From all that I knew, North’s meddling would just move Pitch’s plan along anyway!”

Sandy sat in front of him, the still-formed goose shape above his head moving with him. 

The goose turned into the huddle of rabbits again, replaying its sequence as a single one stood alone with a rain cloud. Slowly, the image shifted into Bunny himself—or how he looked back then, at least, with a robe and staff.

“I finished my grieving far before I met anyone here,” Bunnymund sniffed and crossed his arms.

Sandy shook his head, replaying the image. This time, the huddle of rabbits did not dissolve as the lone one pulled away with his rain cloud. Pitch appeared between them.

Bunny’s ears went up. “What are you implying?” He leaned forward cautiously.

The huddle of rabbits finally dissolved, but the sand figure of Pitch did not leave as it stalked over to the miniature Bunnymund, leering over his grieving form. When the rain cloud dispersed, the sand-Pitch waved his hands and a nightmare took its place.

Bunnymund gaped at the images. He turned his gaze down to Sandy. “If this is a forgive forget thing, I’m not buying it.”

Sandy shook his head and replayed the huddled rabbits a further time—the iteration with Pitch. It paused right after the rabbits had disappeared. Sandy leaned forward to touch Bunny’s chest, pointing to the scene with his other hand.

The sand-Bunnymund dissolved into a comet next, leaving Pitch standing alongside it. Sandy moved the hand away from Bunny and to his own chest. He shook his head, and the sand-Pitch dissolved.

A miniature version of himself appeared out of the comet, standing next to a nightmare which ran over his head. It burst into hundreds of grains as the small Sandman smiled.

All of the images fell away, and there was a moment of silence as Bunnymund replayed each scene in his mind.

“So, you’re not saying I should disregard the past,” he said slowly, and Sandy nodded, “but you’re also saying that I shouldn't completely regard it.”

Sandy grimaced and made a so-so motion with his hand. He pointed to himself and formed a figure of himself sleeping with a rain cloud above his head. When the miniature Sandman stood up, the cloud disappeared. Then it lied down again, but only a calm swirl of a dream returned above its head.

Bunnymund swallowed, finally grasping the full gravity of that explanation. “But _how_ do I let go?” he asked quietly.

Sandy shrugged.

With a groan, Bunny placed his head in his paws. “I don't know if I can, mate. I mean, I’ve been living with this most of my life, but sometimes…” He took a breath and looked up. His eyes burned, and memories flashed across the back of his vision. “Sometimes, I don't think it's real. Or that I shouldn't be here. Why, of all of them, was it me who escaped? Is this another cruel joke Pitch is pulling, or is he just as lost? I really don't know anymore.” Bunnymund shook his head, ears and fur pressed flat against his skin.

The huddle of sand-rabbits returned.

Bunny lashed out at them with a paw. “No. Stop. I don't care why they’re gone, and I already know how it turned out,” he said darkly. “So, unless you're gonna tell me how to escape these feelings, I don't want to hear it.”

Nobody moved for a moment, and Bunnymund's eyelids sank with weariness. Emotions were not his area, but his mind sure liked to have them a lot. His heart pounded in tune with the past, and faint memories of grass and homemade cocoa stiffened his limbs.

Then there was a new sand image—symbols, this time. They sparkled in front of Bunnymund's face, tickling his nose and making him sneeze. Sandy snickered silently as Bunny examined the symbols:

An egg, a candy cane, a tooth, a swirling cloud, and a snowflake.

When Bunnymund gave Sandy a questioning look, all of them pulled back except for the egg and cloud. Flashing figures of old starships and Fearlings appeared above the two, poofs of sand swirling as they formed and disintegrated.

Then, just as Bunny thought he had grasped the meaning, the cloud dissolved, and the candy cane moved next to the egg. Above them, there were geese, swords, and the moon in rapid succession.

“Now—” Bunny started, but the candy cane fizzled in his face, making him cough. “Ack! Sand!” he hacked.

When he had regained his lungs, the egg hovered near the tooth. More swords and various musical instruments flashed above them.

Finally, before Bunny could even think of protesting, the snowflake moved forward, replacing the tooth. Only a Pitch silhouette hovered above, but various flowers bloomed around it.

The scene formed into a book (but left the flowers around it), a G carved into the cover: the Guardian symbol. It opened to show the images for each of them (the egg, cloud, candy cane, etc.), all balanced in a circle.

_We all have our own pasts, but that doesn't mean we don't understand each other. Our story is the same._

At least, that's what Bunnymund thought that meant. His eyes moved slowly to meet with Sandy’s, who stared back patiently.

“Yeah mate,” he breathed. “I suppose you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot of Sandy headcanons here, but I regret nothing.
> 
> Bunny kinda lost the Aussie slang at the end, but I was tired and didn't want to deal with it. He talks mostly normal in the canon material anyway; I just usually amplify it in my fics.
> 
> We need more fics of these two. And I'm not just saying that because I project onto Sandy and my best friend projects onto Bunnymund… okay, that's probably part of it, but it's true! Give me more Bunny and Sandy dealing with their similar histories, please internet!


End file.
